Hollie’s closest tween and teen friend, Kirstin, nailed it stating that she’s so much cooler than we ever were. Absolutely true for me as I literally was the most awkward, frizzy-ginger haired, coke bottles, skinny 9 year old ever in the 70s. I also was the only one who was still wearing dresses – ugh! Hollie and Kirstin, on the other hand, were a different kind of cool than this cool; the kind that wrote homework in gel pens and braved the early days of entering a Hot Topic store unsupervised.

Accurate.

Hazel is so much cooler than even the coolest 90s tweens.

So cool that when she requests turquoise hair for her birthday swag, her mother delivers because she does indeed give good hair and is a cooler mom than I could ever be.

Kingston belongs to Hollie, Ben, Hazel and Fallon. Kingston is adorable. Kingston is smart. Kingston loves to dance. Kingston loves to hump – pillows, blankets, stuffed toys – anything that doesn’t move that he can wrap his front legs around, Kingston will hump it – All. The Time. Kingston is indeed adorable; but his sex addiction is not. So, because I love my kids and grandkids – and Kingston too –

He might be mad because he thought that ride in the Mima car meant an adventure. He might. Then again, he did crawl up into my lap right after I got this shot and soon after jumped into the Mima car imagining that a fun adventure awaited.

Oh, and he still humps anything that doesn’t move.

He’s a dog.

We shall file this under The Things I Will Do For MY Kids And Grandkids file. You’re welcome, kids! And you’re welcome, Bob Barker!

Nothing gives me quite so much joy as when people tell me they’ve had their pets spayed or neutered.
– Bob Barker

There is much too much for me to tell you that I am thankful for as a grandmother, excuse me, as a Mima. One thing that I find myself giving thanks for often is just being there. Being mom means mastering the art of juggling because mom literally must be all of it and do it all and look good all the while. I can’t even begin to list all the times I failed all of this as mom. If only I could have called up “Mom” for the times when I could not juggle it all. So these moments when Hollie calls upon me, I am filled with so much gratitude and joy that I can be there.

Hazel calls me to invite me to a Mother’s/Family lunch at her school and my day is planned!

Yes, I give thanks for the fact that I can set aside the afternoon for her – and that my darling husband is able to take the afternoon off to pick up our own son from school because while Hazel’s school is hosting a Mother’s/Family lunch, Daniel’s school is dismissed at noon for Teachers’ Inservice.

Welcome to our adventures in juggling; which I guess goes on even after most of the kids have grown and left The Big Top.

It means so much to know that Hollie will call me and say, Mom,can you do this for Hazel or Fallon; and I know it means just as much to her because if only I could have called up “Mom” for the times when I could not juggle it all.

And this. OMG, this! Lunch with the one who named me Mima,…I will absolutely put on my prettiest springtime dress, curl my hair and sit in the school courtyard with the Delta winds whipping up all the dust and pollen and my hair while sharing Lunchables with this girl; the one who corrected me when I met her best friend’s mother and introduced myself as Hollie’s Mom and Hazel’s grandmother – you are not a Grandmother, you are a Mima!